Huntington Lawyer Who Stole Nearly $400K From Clients Sentenced: DA

HUNTINGTON, NY — A Huntington attorney was sentenced to six months in jail after stealing nearly $400,000 from her clients, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Daphna Zekaria, 56, of Syosset, was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty in May, 2025 to second-degree grand larceny and related charges; she stole the funds from her clients’ escrow accounts for personal and business expenses, the DA said.

Subscribe

According to court documents and the defendant’s admission during her plea allocution, in August 2021, Zekaria, a partner at the Huntington law firm of Sokolski and Zekaria, P.C., was hired to represent a woman in her divorce and, later, for the sale of her marital home, Tierney said.

Between December 29, 2021, and March 4, 2022, Zekaria received about $150,000, which were the proceeds of the sale of her client’s home, the DA said.

Zekaria was to hold the funds in her escrow account to be dispersed when the client’s divorce was finalized, Tierney said.

Instead, Zekaria used the funds for personal and business expenses, the DA said.

In December 2021, Zekaria was hired by a New York State Lottery winner, and made promises to hold a portion of her client’s money in the firm’s escrow account and invest an additional portion on his behalf, Tierney said.

Instead of holding the money or investing it, Zekaria did neither, the DA said.

She instead made large transfers of money to other individuals which she would not have been able to, had her client’s funds not been deposited into her account, Tierney said.

Zekaria collected a total of $230,000 from the victim over three separate transactions, the DA said.

Additionally, in March 2023, Zekaria was retained by an elderly Manhattan woman to assist her in contesting eviction proceedings, the DA said. Zekaria took $17,500 from the woman to represent her but performed no legal work on her behalf, Tierney said.

After the victim requested her money back 13 days after providing the payment, Zekaria had already spent her money on LIPA payments and credit card bills, Tierney said.

On May 21, 2025, Zekaria pleaded guilty to the following charges before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro, the DA said: Two counts of second-degree grand larceny, a Class C felony; one count of third-degree grand larceny, a Class D felony; one count of first-degree scheme to defraud, a Class E felony; and one count of second-degree criminal contempt, a Class A misdemeanor, the DA said.

Zekaria paid back $373,500 in restitution to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection, the DA said.

On Friday, she was sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation, the DA said.

She was represented by the Legal Aid Society.

"Attorneys are held to a higher ethical standard than the rest of society, and for good reason," Tierney said. "This defendant didn’t just steal money; she abused her position of trust as an attorney and the legal system itself. Her actions deserve a serious penalty, and I thank my prosecution team for holding her accountable."